Friday, May 25, 2012

What do you see when you look in the mirror? That is quite a question! To be honest most of my friends would give me a cheeky answer!

A mirror can only reflect; it cannot change the image (unless of course you are looking into one of those funfair type of mirrors). The bible is described as a mirror (The Epistle of James chapter 1). When I read the bible it reflects what I am by nature, it exposes my sin and makes me feel my short comings. I thank God that it also points me to the Lord Jesus Christ and tells me that he has dealt with my sin by His death. When I see the truth in the word of God and apply it to my life (that is have a change of mind about my life and God - God calls it repentance) and depend on the Saviour (the Lord Jesus) I come into the benefit of the salvation He offers.

Key verses in the bible to explain this are John 3.16, John 5.24, Acts 16.31, Romans 10.9. Look them up in the bible and believe what God has said.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

As you can see from this picture this man is shackled and chained. It is his religious belief that if he is chained and pays for his
wrong that he will then be freed from his addictive habit.

The Bible does teach that sin is addictive and it does
enslave and chain us. In the bible we read 'Do you not know that when you present
yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the
one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting
in righteousness? (Romans 6:16 NASB)

This is just illustrating that sin grips people's lives and
they cannot break free from the power of sin on their own. It doesn't matter
which sin we are talking about they are all life threatening (as in denying us eternal life) and eternally damaging. If you had read
any of my blogs before you will know that I often quote verses such as
"the wages of sin is death". Don't forget to read the rest of that
verse which says "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord"(Romans
6:23 ESV).

In summary:

We are all in the grip of
sin to varying degrees;

Sin for all of us ends in
death and will take us to the grave;

It separated us from God forever;

Forgiveness is available
for all human beings;

Salvation and eternal life
(as opposed to eternal death i.e. separation from God for ever) could
only be provided by a perfect substitute.

God only accepts Jesus
Christ as that valid substitute as He is morally perfect and He came to earth to deal with sin.
Hebrews 9:26 "but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9.26 KJV).

The question is will you trust him to save you or will you remain
a slave to sin and face eternal separation from God as a result.

Friday, May 11, 2012

I saw this awful image of the recent bomb in Damascus in the paper this morning. Man's inhumanity to man. I only wish they would listen to the Prince of Peace, Jesus. He said 'love your enemies, do good them which hate you' (Luke 6.27). Only knowing God's forgiveness personally and experiencing the grace of God can prepare you to act in love to those you would naturally hate.

Friday, May 04, 2012

From 1990 till November 2010 Aung San Suu Kyi the leader
of the National League for Democracy was held under house arrest in Myamar
(previously Burma) by the military junta of that country. When released she
toured the country with good success in rallying the party. Suu Kyi and 42
other candidates from her party, won seats in by-elections on April 1. On the
26th.April CNN reported, ‘After the elections, Suu Kyi and other
newly elected opposition members were invited to attend the session of
parliament this week in the capital, Naypidaw. But they demurred, requesting
instead that the wording of the lawmakers' oath be changed first.’ There
was one word in the oath that they were asked to take which they wanted
replaced. The word that they wanted deleted was ‘protect’, they do not
want to protect the wording of the 2008 constitution they want to change it,
because 25% of the 664 seats are un-elected military people. Alternatives
suggested by Suu Kyi were ‘respect’ or ‘abide by’. It is now down to all
concerned to work something out that satisfies everyone in order for the newly
elected ones to take the oath.

CNN quotes Suu Kyi, "In regard to the obstacles in
the way of taking our places in the National Assembly, we would like to think
that these are purely technical ones," she told reporters at her residence
in Yangon. "We would not like to expand them to the point they become a
political issue.” One word can make all the
difference to what is acceptable and what is not.

Many a person regrets
uttering an inappropriate word, which when said cannot be recalled and the
consequences can be devastating. Whether a word is spoken or written, it is
good if they are wholesome words. Paul wrote to Timothy,If
any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting
about questions and strifes of words

King David wanted to build a
House for God, but although God gave him the details of the house he was not
allowed to build it, his son Solomon built the Temple.

Thomas Newberry wrote a number of
books but his best known work is the Englishman’s Study Bible commonly known as
the Newberry Bible which he commenced working on in 1865. He wrote a small
book, ‘The Temple of Solomon’ which I have got. He tells how David purchased
the threshing floor of Arauna, ‘David built an altar to Jehovah on that
threshing floor and purchased it from Arauna to be the site of the Altar for
Israel; also the oxen and implements for fifty shekels of silver. David not
only purchased the floor….but also the surrounding land for six hundred shekels
of gold, as a site for the Temple and its courts. It is probable that the
threshing floor might have occupied the precise spot on which Abraham, by the
direction of God, was offering up his son Isaac, when he was stayed by God’s
voice; and it is an interesting fact that the Dome of the rock, popularly known
as the Mosque of Omar, now stands over the place.’ Earlier in the book Newberry speaks of three
Temples, the one Solomon built which was destroyed by the Babylonians, then the
Temple built by Ezra, Zerubbabel and Nehemiah and thirdly, Herod’s Temple which
was of different and inferiordesign to that of Solomon’s. This was the
one standing when Christ was here but destroyed by the Romans in AD70.

There will be a fourth Temple
erected on the same site, in the Millenium, as described in the Book of
Ezekiel.

When
Solomon dedicated the Temple that he built, we read in 1Kings ch.8 from v.30 to
v. 45, he uses an expression seven times, of four words, “Hear thou in
Heaven”, and this expression is not found anywhere else in the Bible.
For example, in v.34 “Then hearthouinheaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring
them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.”

When
he had finished praying v.54 says,“And it was so, that
when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto
the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his
knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the
congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the LORD, that
hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised:
there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he
promised by the hand of Moses his servant.”

Not
one word of God’s promises had failed and neither will they, for Paul said in
2Corinthians 1:19, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was
preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea
and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in
him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

Suu Kyi does not want to
protect something that is perverse, causing corruption and bondage; she wants
her nation to be brought into freedom and fairness for all.

Jesus
Christ brings corrupt sinners out of bondage into the freedom of the children
of God; His promises are true and will not fail. He said in John ch.10 “But
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He also said “I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” WHAT PROMISES, WHAT
PROTECTION? BRILLIANT! God bless.